D&D 5E Problems with Tales from the Yawning Portal
pukunui
Legend
I can't recall ever seeing a costly material component included in the treasure before.
jasper
Rotten DM
It is something I going to bring up on Adventure League Face book page.
Edit to add.
Posted in AL last night. The response was why bother to look up MCs and it would not likely be included in treasure due to guidelines of treasure.
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CapnZapp
Legend
Do you mean you recognize specific language and phrasing from your posts in the errata? Leading you to believe your posts were used by the errata writer?
Because just getting your items into the errata doesn't suggest anything else than a competent errata writer...
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pukunui
Legend
This is not an error per se, but I thought it was worth mentioning here anyway: In The Forge of Fury, the text assumes that the PCs can communicate with the duergar (specifically Ghared and Nimira). However, by default, both of them can speak Dwarvish and Undercommon only, so if no one in your party can speak either of those languages, then technically negotiation is off the table.
Of course, you can always make it so those two duergar, at least, can speak Common.
As an aside, neither this version of the adventure, nor the original 3.5 edition, gives any indication as to how the duergar got here. There's no tunnel into the Underdark anywhere. They must have trekked across the surface from somewhere else.
Also, I think I like the original version's story for Idalla the succubus better. The wizard from the previous adventuring expedition summoned her and trapped her in the library. This helps explain why she is there and why she seems reluctant to leave the room despite asking the PCs to rescue her. In this new version, Arundil summoned her, she killed him, and then she decided to stay ... and has somehow been luring adventurers to the lair ever since. The text gives no indication of how she does this, but it would seem not to be particularly fruitful for her, as there appears to have been only one expedition in recent times prior to the PCs. Also, having her refuse to leave the room after asking the PCs to rescue her makes no sense in this new context. I think I'll go with the original idea. She's stuck in that room unless the PCs invite her out.
Of course, you can always make it so those two duergar, at least, can speak Common.
As an aside, neither this version of the adventure, nor the original 3.5 edition, gives any indication as to how the duergar got here. There's no tunnel into the Underdark anywhere. They must have trekked across the surface from somewhere else.
Also, I think I like the original version's story for Idalla the succubus better. The wizard from the previous adventuring expedition summoned her and trapped her in the library. This helps explain why she is there and why she seems reluctant to leave the room despite asking the PCs to rescue her. In this new version, Arundil summoned her, she killed him, and then she decided to stay ... and has somehow been luring adventurers to the lair ever since. The text gives no indication of how she does this, but it would seem not to be particularly fruitful for her, as there appears to have been only one expedition in recent times prior to the PCs. Also, having her refuse to leave the room after asking the PCs to rescue her makes no sense in this new context. I think I'll go with the original idea. She's stuck in that room unless the PCs invite her out.
jasper
Rotten DM
White Plume. The wandering monster check will play havoc with groups taking rests inside of dungeon. I suggest after 2 encounters, the group can rest without a check.
Dead in Thay. The key placement assumes the players are coming into the section from the top of the map. A Dm will need to seed extra section keys occasionally. You can ignore the reduce threat -2 penalty.
Tomb of Horrors. The flavor text ask for pcs to touch, etc to trigger certain traps. This can be changed to trigger if dc is not met.
Dead in Thay. The key placement assumes the players are coming into the section from the top of the map. A Dm will need to seed extra section keys occasionally. You can ignore the reduce threat -2 penalty.
Tomb of Horrors. The flavor text ask for pcs to touch, etc to trigger certain traps. This can be changed to trigger if dc is not met.
mightybrain
Villager
I'm running Sunless Citadel currently. I'll add problems as we come across them.
The first was an inconsistency in the text in the description of the ravine. First it says that the ravine is 30 feet deep and 40 feet wide. Then it says that the rope descends to a ledge 50 feet below. And then there are stairs descending from the ledge a further 80 feet and that the far wall of the chasm is 250 feet away. It's also difficult to match this description to the map which looks more like a natural rock formation with steps cut into it.
Also it says that the rope could not have been tied more than 2 weeks ago but this conflicts with the other descriptions. Their hidden camp fires are described as a month old and their tracks below are also described as a month old.
My players had a lot of problems visualising this section. I would recommend rewriting the read aloud text for this section before running.
The first was an inconsistency in the text in the description of the ravine. First it says that the ravine is 30 feet deep and 40 feet wide. Then it says that the rope descends to a ledge 50 feet below. And then there are stairs descending from the ledge a further 80 feet and that the far wall of the chasm is 250 feet away. It's also difficult to match this description to the map which looks more like a natural rock formation with steps cut into it.
Also it says that the rope could not have been tied more than 2 weeks ago but this conflicts with the other descriptions. Their hidden camp fires are described as a month old and their tracks below are also described as a month old.
My players had a lot of problems visualising this section. I would recommend rewriting the read aloud text for this section before running.
Prakriti
Hi, I'm a Mindflayer, but don't let that worry you
It's a shame they didn't include the cross-section from the original adventure, because it makes the ravine much easier to visualize. As you can see, the bottom of the ravine hollows out, making it much wider than the cleft itself. The description in the book is accurate, it's just very difficult to fathom without a visual aid.
The other thing you mentioned -- the ravine's depth -- isn't a mistake either. The adventure says that the ravine runs for several miles and is 30 feet deep on average. Obviously, at the site of the citadel, the ravine is deeper than usual.
mightybrain
Villager
Yeah, that's not how I visualised it from the description.
Eltab
Lord of the Hidden Layer
This isn't a problem with the book, as much as DM advice
Doomvault: Tell your players to make a map - neither they nor their characters need be trained in Cartography - as they go or they will get lost.
The size of the vault (I think we have met every creature in the Monster Manual) plus the teleportals will prevent the "I'll just remember where we went" method from working accurately.
I would work this in by having the Quest-giver say something like "We know they're up to something important in there, but we haven't pinned down just WHERE their big project is."
Doomvault: Tell your players to make a map - neither they nor their characters need be trained in Cartography - as they go or they will get lost.
The size of the vault (I think we have met every creature in the Monster Manual) plus the teleportals will prevent the "I'll just remember where we went" method from working accurately.
I would work this in by having the Quest-giver say something like "We know they're up to something important in there, but we haven't pinned down just WHERE their big project is."
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